Second Best
by allyxocorbin
Summary: Chad and Troy are step brothers and best friends, but Chad feels second best to Troy in everything. Enter new girl Gabriella Montez. Chad likes her and Troy likes her. Will Chad win her heart or will he always be second best? Chadella or Troyella
1. Chapter 1

**Better summary: **Chad and Troy are step-brothers and best friends, but Chad feels second best to Troy from everything to basketball to school to girls. Enter new girl Gabriella Montez. Chad meets her first and instantly likes her, but soon finds out that Troy likes her too. Will Chad finally beat Troy at something or will he always be second best? Ending will either be Chadella or Troyella... I know who it'll be... you'll just have to wait and see..

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except original characters. enter the usual stuff about not knowing anybody on HSM crew or owning HSM

**Author's note:** Readers of my story Against the Odds have already read part of this story and they seemed to like it. It's different from what I've written previously in that there is no Chaylor aspect to it (I know... I'm sad too...) My goal for this story is that readers won't be able to guess the outcome of the story... so we'll see if that actually happens :-D

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**Chapter 1**

It was a dream come true for Chad Danforth and Troy Bolton. They'd been best friends, practically brothers, since they were 4-years-old and now, after the marriage of Chad's mom Zoey to Troy's dad Jack, they were officially brothers.

It had taken their parents ten years to finally start dating each other then at the end of Troy and Chad's junior year of high school, Jack and Zoey had taken the boys out to dinner and announced they were getting married at the end of the summer before school started back up.

Since they were all going to move into Jack and Troy's house, Chad moved in with them early in the summer-not that he hadn't already practically lived with them-while his mom went to live with her parents because their house had sold so quickly.

Living with Troy and Jack-his brother and dad-was as awesome as Chad had always dreamed it would be. They'd spent the first week of Chad living there decorating his room and making it into a room that Chad thought was better than Troy's.

Everyday after work, Zoey would come over and they'd eat dinner together: whether they were snacking on pizza, something from the barbeque or one of his mom's crazy recipes-that always tasted awesome until she revealed the ingredients.

The summer passed quickly for the Bolton-Danforth family and before they knew it, the wedding had come and gone and Chad and Troy were on their own for a few days while their parents honeymooned.

"Where are you going?" Chad asked as he leaned against the wall as Troy stood in the bathroom shaving.

"Got a date," Troy replied.

"Ah, well, have fun," Chad said then turned and went to his room.

That was the biggest difference between himself and Troy-Troy had a lot of dates and Chad had next to none. That was partly attributed to the fact that Chad spent a lot of his time focused on his sports-basketball and baseball-but the fact that he had a hard time finding a girl that would date him was another part of it.

Sure there were girls out there that wanted to date him, but not any that he liked back. All the girls he liked were interested in Troy…

Chad sighed and pulled himself off his bed. If he was going to be by himself for the evening, he figured he should at least treat himself to some dinner from a fast food joint. He slipped on his sneakers then headed out to his car.

Pulling out of the driveway, he decided to take a small detour and drive past the house he'd grown up in. He drove the short distance and stopped in front of the two-story house that had been a sandy brown but had been repainted to a mossy green.

His eyes gazed over the front yard and he saw a girl with long, dark brown hair struggling with the fence to the backyard. He put his car in park and climbed out.

"Need some help?" He asked.

The girl jumped in surprise and turned around to face him. "I-uh-" she stammered.

"I used to live here with my mom," he told her. "But we moved a few blocks away because she married my best friend's dad."

"Lucky you," she replied.

"I'm Chad, by the way," he told her. She pulled her eyes off the ground and looked at him for the first time. Man, she had beautiful eyes.

"Your name is Chad?" She asked. He nodded. "Come with me for a second."

"Okay," he nodded and followed her into the house, curious as to where she was taking him.

His breath died in his throat when he saw the changes that had been made to the house. What had once been divided into a separate kitchen, dining room, living room and entry hall was now one big room. His mom's beloved beige carpet had been ripped out and the floors were being covered with hardwood.

"Bella, who's your friend?" A deep voice broke into Chad's head.

"This is Chad, daddy, he and his mom used to live here," the girl to the man with salt and pepper hair. "I wanted to show him the hand and foot prints we found in the living room."

"I don't suppose Chad knows how to open the back gate," the girl's dad.

"You have to lift up then slide the lock," Chad replied. "My best friend and I messed it up when we were 14 and trying to get on the roof to get a basketball."

"Good to know," the girl's dad said with a chuckle. "It was good to meet you, Chad."

"You, too, Mr. uh-"

"Carlos Montez, but please call me Carlos," the man said before he left the room.

Chad looked around the room and found the girl standing in what had been his living room. He walked over to her and found her staring down at the floorboards. He looked down and smiled when he saw his, Troy and his mom's hand and foot prints.

"Am I right in assuming that the Chad here is you?" The girl asked him.

Chad nodded and was instantly taken back to the day his mom and come home from work and told Troy and Chad to each get a bottle of paint from her painting studio and come to the living room.

It had been the summer of 1999, he and Troy were nine-years-old and his mom had gotten a raise and decided it was time for the 1970s brown shag carpet to be replaced. The carpet installers had been put back a day so the living room was just the floorboards. His mom had helped Troy and Chad dip their hands and feet into the paint colors of their choice and they left their mark on the ground and signed their names.

"Do you want to take your picture by it?" The girl asked, breaking into Chad's memories.

"What?" Chad asked her.

"Do you want me to take a picture for you?" The girl repeated. "I know my mom gets sentimental about these things and I figure your mom is probably the same way."

"I don't have a camera," Chad stated.

"I do," she said. "Wait here."

She returned in a few minutes with a digital camera.

"How about one picture with you and one without you?" She suggested.

Chad shrugged and laid down on the ground on his back with his head by the prints. She took the picture then he stood up and she took another picture of the prints.

"Do you want my email address so you can send them to me?" Chad asked her.

"We could do that or I can print them out for you," she told him. "It'll only take like five minutes to print them out."

"Okay," Chad replied. "Can I use the bathroom?"

"Sure, the one down here is not use able but you can use the one upstairs," she told him. "It's the first-"

"I know where it is," he reminded her.

"Oh, right," she smiled. She led him up the stairs and disappeared into what had been his bedroom while he went into the bathroom.

When he was done, he walked over to the door and knocked.

"Come in," she called.

He opened the door and froze. He once blue room was a purple-pink color. The sports themed room was now girly times a million.

"The pictures are almost-" She stopped when she saw the look of pure horror on his face. "You okay, Chad?"

"You- you- my room," he stammered.

She looked around her room then laughed. "What can I say, I'm not a big sports person," she shrugged.

"So?" He replied.

"Oh, come on, Chad, you didn't really expect the house to be exactly the way you left it," she said.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I guess I was so caught up in moving in with my best friend and his dad that I didn't really think about what would happen to this place…"

"Change is good though, Chad," she said as she grabbed the pictures from her printer. "Here you go."

"Thanks," he said, putting them in his pocket. "Well, I guess I should be going. I didn't mean to intrude."

"You didn't," she replied. "You're actually the first person I've met in Albuquerque."

"Well, then, welcome to Albuquerque, uh-"

"Gabriella Montez," she told him.

"Gabriella," Chad smiled.

"How old are you, Chad?" She asked as they walked down the stairs.

"I'm 17, I'll be a senior at East High," he told her. "You?"

"Same, though, I won't be 17 until December," she replied. "Skipped a grade."

"Well, I'll keep a look out for you next Monday," he told her. "Give you a tour of the craziness that is East High."

"I'd like that," Gabriella smiled as they reached the front door.

"Don't tell me you're leaving," Carlos said when he saw Gabriella and Chad by the front door. "I just threw some hamburgers on the barbeque."

"No, I couldn't," Chad shook his head. "I'm imposed too much. I'm sure my mom will yell at me for bugging you guys when she gets home from her honeymoon."

"Your parents aren't home? Are you staying with somebody?" Carlos asked him.

"Just my step brother," Chad replied. "But he has a date tonight so I'm on my own for dinner."

"Then I insist that you stay," Carlos told Chad. "Besides, I have some more questions for you. Like why the bathroom window is different than all the other windows in the house."

Chad spent the rest of the evening with Gabriella, Carlos, Gabriella's sister Marie and her mom Marisol. He finally left their house at a quarter after ten with the promise to pick Gabriella and Marie up for school on Monday morning.

The house was quiet when he got home and he figured that Troy was still out on his date. He went up to his room and put the pictures on his desk. He changed into his pajamas then climbed into bed, falling asleep with Gabriella's image in his mind.

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Last thing, I hope you guys enjoyed this small taste of the story... it's not going to be a long story... I only have 7 chapters planned... although I do have some alternate endings that I plan to write :-D

Please read and review!!


	2. Chapter 2

I wanna saw a quick thank you to xpinkdiamondx, gembryant, itsasimpleILYx3, liv3.in.lov3 and Mony19 for reviewing the first chapter. Your guys' comments have actually made me think about how I want to end the story... we'll see what happens :-D

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**Chapter 2**

Monday morning, Chad got up extra early and took his time showering, shaving and picking out his clothes. Then he went downstairs and entered the kitchen as his mom was pulling the first batch of pancakes off the griddle.

"Morning," he greeted, trying not to sound overly excited.

His mom and Jack looked up at him with surprise and disbelief written on their faces.

"What?" Chad asked as he sat down at the island.

"We're just surprised you're up," Jack smiled into his napkin. "Seeing as you didn't get out of bed before noon everyday this summer -"

"And you've never gotten up before seven for school before," his mom finished and glanced at the clock on the stove. "And it's 6:45."

"Just excited," Chad shrugged. It wasn't a lie. He was excited about going to school, but mostly because he was going to see Gabriella again.

"I remember my senior year," Zoey said as a faraway look crossed her face. "The parties, the boys, prom…"

"Honey, you're burning the pancakes," Jack said, laughing.

"Whoops," Zoey smiled and flipped the pancakes over. "Troy better get down here soon or they'll all be gone."

"I'll go get him," Jack said, pushing back his stool. "Then I gotta head in to work."

Chad stared at his pancakes as his mom and Jack kissed, he was happy they were together, but he wasn't so keen on the public displays of affection, especially in front of him.

As soon as Jack was gone, Zoey leaned on the counter and looked at her son until he looked up at her.

"What?" Chad asked confused as to why his mom was staring at him with a smile on her face.

"Who's the girl?" She asked him.

"Huh?" Chad said, trying to play dumb.

"You know what I'm talking about, Chad," his mom shook her head. "You've always fought me when it comes to going to school, especially on the first day. There's no way that you're just excited because it's your senior year, there has to be another motive."

"I'm just excited that I'm almost done," Chad told her. "Nothing else."

The look she gave him said she wasn't convinced, but thankfully she dropped the subject as Troy came into the kitchen in a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt with his hair sticking out in every direction.

"Morning," he mumbled as he sat down on the stool next to Chad.

"You better hurry up and eat, Troy," Zoey said, placing a plate of steaming pancakes in front of him. "I don't think you want to go to school dressed like that."

"It might do him some good and scare away his groupies," Jack said, coming into the kitchen. "Then maybe he could put his full attention back on basketball."

"Uh huh," Zoey shook her finger at Jack. "Basketball season doesn't start until December and you won't be pressuring these boys, Jack."

Chad smirked into his cup as he took a drink of his orange juice. Jack and his mom had had the same discussion the previous basketball season after Zoey had noticed Jack pushing Troy three times as hard as he pushed the other guys on the team and she told him that he shouldn't push Troy or Chad that hard because it could reflect badly on their love of the game.

"I know," Jack smiled as he grabbed the sack lunch Zoey had prepared for him. "Love you."

"Love you, too," Zoey smiled and gave him another kiss.

"See you boys at school," Jack said before he left the kitchen.

"You want some more pancakes, Chad?" His mom asked.

"Nope, I'm good," Chad replied. "I gotta head out too, anyway."

"Why are you leaving so early?" Troy asked, looking at him.

"Uh," Chad looked over and saw his mom trying to hide a smile behind her look of curiosity. "Just want to get a good parking spot, that's all." He shrugged. "And you know, get my schedule then take advantage of the free donuts and coffee in the office before every one else does."

Troy seemed to accept that answer, but Chad knew his mom wasn't buying it.

"Here's your lunch," Zoey said, holding the paper sack out to him. "Have fun getting a good parking spot."

"Bye mom," Chad shook his head. "See you later, Troy." He went up to his room and grabbed his backpack before he headed out to his car. He drove over to Gabriella's house and threw his car into park before he walked up the path and knocked on the front door.

"Good morning, Chad," Carlos greeted after opening the door. "Come on in. The girls are just finishing up breakfast."

"Thanks," Chad said and followed Carlos to the kitchen table. "Hey."

"Hey Chad," Gabriella smiled. "You want a crepe?"

"No thanks, I just had pancakes," Chad replied, patting his full belly. "It's a first day tradition of my mom's."

"That's what crepes are here," Gabriella said. "We only get them on the first day of school, Christmas and birthdays."

After Marie and Gabriella finished eating, they went upstairs to brush their teeth then grabbed their backpacks. Upon returning downstairs, they said goodbye to their parents then followed Chad out to his car.

"Well here it is," Chad said ten minutes later as he, Gabriella and Marie stood in front of East High.

"It's huge," Gabriella breathed out as she stared at the large building in front of her.

"I'm going to get lost for sure," Marie groaned.

"Not with me, your official tour guide, here to help," Chad smiled at the girls. "And it just so happens that I have connections that will let us get our schedules early, get your lockers and give you the grand tour of the school before the bell rings."

"These connections of your won't get us in trouble with the law will they?" Gabriella asked. "No offense, but you don't seem like the type of guy that would have connections in a school."

"Well, miss ye-of-little-faith, you're looking at the step-son of the varsity basketball coach, who also happens to have a first period job in the office," Chad grinned. "So if you follow me, we could probably pick up some donuts for our tour."

"I thought you were full," Marie said as she followed her sister and Chad into the school.

"Yeah, ten minutes ago," Chad grinned. He led the two sisters into the office and as promised the three of them got their schedules, the sisters got a locker to share and they left for the tour with donuts in hand.

Chad led them all around the school-to the library, to the gym, to the auditorium, to the cafeteria-and helped them find all of their classes before the warning bell rang. Since they were close to Gabriella's class, she said goodbye then Chad walked Marie to her class before going to the office.

Gabriella had butterflies in her stomach as she walked into her first class-English, she had hoped that she and Chad would have several classes together, but as it turned out they only had two classes together-PE and History.

Sitting down in the first empty seat she could find, Gabriella hugged her backpack as other students filed into the room in groups.

Feeling eyes on her, Gabriella looked up and saw a blonde Caucasian girl and a dark haired African-American girl looking at her.

"You're new aren't you?" The Caucasian girl asked.

"Oh my god, Sharpay, of course she's new," the African American girl rolled her eyes before she held her hand out to Gabriella. "Hi, I'm Taylor McKessie and she's Sharpay Evans."

"Gabriella Montez," Gabriella replied, timidly shaking Taylor's hand. "And yeah, I'm a new student. We just moved here a few weeks ago."

"Well welcome to -" Sharpay stopped and stared at somebody who had just entered the room.

Gabriella turned in her seat and locked eyes with a dreamy, brunette with sapphire eyes. He sent a wink in her direction before turning his attention back to his friends.

"I didn't think it was possible, but Troy Bolton got finer over the summer," Taylor whistled. "I wanna get me some of th-" She stopped when Troy walked over to their desks.

"Taylor, Sharpay," he smiled, giving them a smile that would make any sane girl weak in the knees. Then he turned his attention to Gabriella-or as he knew of her-the new girl. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Troy Bolton."

"Gabriella Montez," she replied, trying to not squeak as she stared up into his beautiful blue eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, _Gabriella_." The name was perfect for a girl of her beauty-beauty, of which, he'd been taken by the second he entered the classroom. Sure, East High had hot girls, but there was something different about Gabriella that made him notice her beauty. Whatever it was, Troy couldn't put his finger on it.

"Alright, class, to your seats, summer is over," their teacher said, just seconds after the bell rang. "I hope you all -"

For the rest of the class period, Gabriella tried to focus on what the teacher was saying but she kept finding herself distracted by Troy. He had convinced the person who had taken the seat in front of her to let him sit there and she could smell his cologne.

After class, Gabriella compared her schedule with Sharpay and Taylor and found herself in class with at least one of them for the rest of the day and as each class began and ended, she found out that she and Troy were also in a lot of classes together.

When it was time for PE, Gabriella walked into the gym with Taylor and smiled brightly when she saw Chad sitting on the bleachers waving to her. She pulled Taylor over to him with her and gave him a hug before sitting down next to him.

"How's your first day going?" Chad asked her.

"Great," Gabriella smiled. "I made some new friends, you know Taylor, right?"

"Of course," Chad nodded. "She's the senior class vice president, _I_ was one of her many supporters."

"Well thank you," Taylor replied. She elbowed Gabriella softly as Troy walked into the gym with some of his friends.

Gabriella sucked in a breath as they headed in her direction, but let the breath out when Troy greeted Chad.

"Gabriella, this is my step-brother and best friend, Troy Bolton," Chad said, introducing the two.

Troy was Chad's step brother? Gabriella looked at Taylor and her new friend just nodded.

"We've already met," Troy smiled. "But -"

A whistle cut Troy off as their PE teacher walked across the gym floor. "Everybody take a seat," he called. "That means you too, Troy."

A lot of their classmates sneakered as Troy sat down between Gabriella and Taylor-much to Taylor's delight and Gabriella's fright.

"Most of you already know this, but I see a few new faces so I'm gonna do my little speech."

Somebody booed.

"Funny, Zeke. Anyway, for those of you who don't know who I am, I'm Coach Bolton and I'm the varsity basketball coach. Yes, Troy Bolton is my son –" several girls cheered and Coach Bolton rolled his eyes "- and as of a few weeks ago, Chad Danforth is my son as well."

If Gabriella hadn't been so nervous about being so close to Troy, she might have found it strange that none of the girls cheered for Chad like they did for Troy.

Gabriella didn't hear a word Coach Bolton said about the class since she was so distracted by Troy's closeness. She didn't realize that Coach Bolton had finished until Chad held out his hand to help her up.

Troy Bolton was definitely a distraction that Gabriella didn't need during her final year of high school… but he was definitely a good looking one…

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Dun dun dun... but come on... you shouldn't really be surprised... you knew in the summary there was gonna be a love triangle... so let the games begin and let the best wildcat, err guy, win!

p.s. would you guys totally hate me if gabriella ended up with ryan? j/k she'll end up with either troy or chad... and at this point even I don't know who she's gonna end up with...


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to spotzy, tashLOVE, liv3.in.lov3 and Mony19 for reviewing the last chapter!!

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**Chapter 3**

After dropping Gabriella and Marie off at home, Chad couldn't wait to get to his own house and find out what Troy thought of Gabriella. According to Gabriella, she and Troy had had nearly every single class together and so he was sure Troy had definite thoughts on Gabriella-unfortunately more than Chad had counted on.

When Chad walked into the house, he could hear Jack and Troy talking in the kitchen and was making his way there when he heard Troy mention Gabriella's name. Curious as to why his best friend was talking about her, Chad paused and listened to the conversation.

"There's something about her that's different, dad," Troy said as he helped cut up vegetables for the stir fry his dad was making. "I don't know what it is, but she's different from the other girls at East High."

"Are you saying she didn't faun over you like the other girls?" Jack teased.

"Dad," Troy rolled his eyes. "It's not like that. She's just different than the other girls."

"She certainly doesn't look like she puts as much time into her appearance as Sharpay," Jack stated.

"Maybe," Troy nodded.

As they started to talk about something else, Chad went up to his room and laid down on his bed. This couldn't be happening to him, not with Gabriella. Troy could have any girl he wanted at East High and he wanted Gabriella, the one girl that Chad actually stood a chance with. If only there was a way for Chad to mark his territory…

That was it! He would have to tell Troy that Gabriella was his and he needed to back off.

Chad waited until after dinner to approach his step-brother. He knocked on Troy's bedroom door twice before letting himself in. "Hey, can we talk?"

"Yeah, sure, what's up?" Troy asked, looking up from his computer.

"You need to stay away from Gabriella," Chad said simply, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Excuse me?" Troy couldn't believe what he was hearing from Chad's mouth.

"Stay away from her, Troy. I mean it."

"What are you her father?"

"No, but I know him."

"So, you're saying that I should stay away from her because you know her father?"

"No, I'm saying stay away from her because I saw her first."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I met her when mom and Jack were on their honeymoon."

"Big deal, you've known her a whole week longer than me."

"Damn it, Troy! You've already got every freaking girl at East High in love with you! Why can't you just let me have one?! I only want one and that's Gabriella."

"What makes you think she wants you?"

Downstairs, Zoey looked at Jack as they heard the boys yelling at each other. She gave him a look and Jack nodded before he tossed the dish towel he'd been drying dishes with on the counter.

"I'm on it," he said. He kissed her cheek then headed for the stairs. He had sensed unease brewing during dinner-mostly from Chad directed at Troy. He wasn't sure what had happened to make Chad so mad at Troy, but when he got to Troy's room, he found the two boys wrestling in Troy's room. Hoping they'd be able to work it out on their own, he leaned against the door jam.

"You're just jealous that the girls like me more than they like you," Troy stated.

"They only like you because they want to be most popular guy in school," Chad retorted as he put Troy in a headlock.

"I can't breath!" Troy screeched.

Sensing Chad was mad enough to choke his brother; Jack stepped into action and broke the two boys apart. He pushed Troy onto the bed and pushed Chad into the chair at the desk.

"Would you two like to fill me in on what the hell is going on up here?" He demanded as he looked from one mad, arms crossed teen to the other. Neither boy answered. "Alright, then, Chad tell me why you're mad at Troy."

"He has every freaking girl at school chasing after him and he wants Gabriella," Chad stated. "But she's mine."

"She's not yours," Troy rolled his eyes. "And you can't tell me to stay away from something that isn't yours. You could try, but that doesn't mean I'd listen."

"You two should be glad your mother isn't up here, if she heard you talking about a girl like she was a piece of meat, she'd have your hides," Jack shook his head. "Chad, what criteria are you using that says Gabriella is yours."

"I met her while you and mom were on your honeymoon," Chad replied. "I even took her and her sister to and from school today."

"So that's why you were up early," Jack smiled before returning to the subject at hand. "The way I see it boys, you have two options. The first being that neither of you dates her and the second being that you decide which one of you gets to date her." He looked between the two. "I'll be downstairs, but know, we're listening and I don't want to hear any more wrestling."

"It should be me," Chad said after Jack left the room. "She's my friend and I've known her the longest."

"That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard," Troy rolled his eyes.

"I don't care, Troy, she's my friend and I care about her a lot," Chad narrowed his eyes at his step-brother. "I won't let you hurt her and don't say you won't, because I know you better than you know yourself, Troy. You can't give a girl like Gabriella what she needs. You're eyes wander to much."

"Yeah, well I guess you know best then, so fine, I'll stay away from her," Troy stated, his teeth clenched. "I hope you two are happy with each other." He left his room and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Chad went into his room and collapsed onto his bed. He was doing the right thing, he knew he was. Troy was notorious for being a date 'em and leave 'em type of guy-not in the have sex with 'em and dump 'em sense, but in the go out on a couple dates with them before moving on to someone elese, who was most likely their best friend.

Chad cared too much about Gabriella to let Troy do that to her. He was doing this for both her good and his own-after all, since Troy tended to date a girl and all of her best friends, Chad had a hard time finding dates because he was Troy's friend.

It still irked Chad that the cheerleaders would squeal and cheer when ever Troy's name was said. Who cared if Troy was the Wildcat superstar? He wasn't the only man on the team and he certainly couldn't win basketball games by himself.

Truth in all, Chad was sick of playing second best to Troy and he felt like the time had finally come for Troy to take a back seat to him.

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So I've decided to stick with my original ending which will be in Chapter 7... half of you will be happy with that ending and the other half of you will be made happy with the first alternate ending. I've started writing the last chapter and I hope to finish it tonight and get started on the alternate endings. Wish me luck!


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to spotzy for reviewing the last chapter:)

Note: I have finished writing the story and one alternate ending so far, but I won't be updating until I've gotten 5 reviews or it's been a week. I really want you guys to read this story, but I really wanna see what you guys think of it! So please review so I can update sooner (p.s. I'll only update once a day)

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**Chapter 4**

Saturday morning, Gabriella rode her bicycle to the Bolton's house, following the directions Sharpay had given her. Her motive for going over there was mostly because Chad had promised to show her around town, but she also wanted to see Troy.

After what had seemed like a friendly (or flirty as Taylor and Sharpay described it) first day-which included him asking for her phone number-Troy had practically ignored her for the rest of the week. He no longer sat near her or said hello to her, Sharpay and Taylor.

Gabriella would be the first to admit that she didn't have a lot of experience-ok, any-with boys, but she even she could see the 180 degree turn Troy had taken when it came to her.

Arriving at the Bolton's two-story house, Gabriella parked her bike behind a bush then hurried up the front walk. She pressed the doorbell then stepped back and waited for it to be answered.

"Ah, Gabriella Montez, what do we owe this pleasure?" Coach Bolton asked after he opened the front door.

"Chad promised to give me a tour of Albuquerque," she replied.

"Oh, well come on in," Coach Bolton said, pushing open the screen door to let the teenage girl into the house.

Gabriella wiped her feet then entered the house. It was obviously a bachelor's pad with large furniture mostly in dark woods, but it had a few feminine touches here and there.

"Jack, who's-" Gabriella looked up and saw a beautiful African-American woman, whom she assumed was Chad's mom, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh, hello."

"Zoe, this is Gabriella Montez, she's a _friend_ of _Chad's_," Jack explained. "Gabriella, this is Chad's mom-and my wife-Zoey."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Bolton," Gabriella shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gabriella," Zoey smiled. She had a gut feeling that Gabriella was the girl that had Chad getting up early and looking forward to school each day. "Chad is still in bed, but you're more than welcome to get that lazy boy up."

"Uh, okay," Gabriella replied, uneasily.

"His bedroom is the first door on the left at the top of the stairs," Zoey told her before she disappeared into another room.

Gabriella glanced at Coach Bolton and he motioned his head towards the stairs. "Just knock before you go in," he suggested before he followed his wife.

Gabriella took a deep breath before she timidly went up the stairs and found his room easily. She paused in front of the white door then knocked, hoping he had woken up on his own. When no reply came from inside, she turned the handle and pushed the door open.

The late morning light bleed through the dark red curtains and Gabriella could see the motionless lump in the middle of the dark bedded double bed. As she made her way across the room to his bed, she could see his mind-of-their-own curls peaking out from under the comforter that covered the rest of his body.

"Chad, wake up," she whispered not wanting to scare him. "Chad. Wake up." Stopping by the side of his bed she put her hands on his arm and shook him. "Chad, wake up, you lazy ass."

"Go away, Troy," Chad grumbled.

Gabriella sighed as he buried himself deeper in the blankets. At the rate this was going, she'd be stuck here all day. Feeling her pocket vibrate, she pulled out her phone and saw she had a text message from Taylor:

_Wanna sleep over tonight?_

She quickly replied:

_At Chad's but I'll ask when I get home._

She laughed out loud when she got Taylor's reply:

_GET PIC OF TROY IN BOXERS!_

She sent her one last text:

_Will try. No promises._

Shoving her phone back in her pocket, Gabriella looked down at her friend and sighed. How was she ever going to wake him up? She saw his alarm clock on his bedside table and it gave her an idea. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and set the alarm to go off in a minute and turned on the most annoying alarm noise she had. Then she put her phone by Chad's head.

As soon as it went off, Chad shot out of bed, limbs flailing as he tried to figure out what the foreign sound was and where it was coming from. Then he saw Gabriella and saw her reach for her phone.

"Morning Chad," she greeted.

"What are you doing here?" He asked pulling his blankets around his boxer covered lower body. "In my room?"

"You promised to take me around town today," she reminded him. "And your mom sent me up here to wake you up."

"Oh, right," Chad replied, chewing on his bottom lip all the while wondering why his mom let Gabriella come up to his room. His mom had never let him have girls in his room and he knew for a fact that Troy had gotten grounded for having a girl in his room.

"Well, since you're up, I'll go wait downstairs while you get dressed," Gabriella stated. With her phone in her pocket, she left the room and closed the door behind her. There were four other doors on the second floor and she wondered which room was Troy's.

Then-as if the Gods were smiling upon her-the door across the hall from Chad's room opened and Troy walked out, dressed only in a pair of basketball shorts. He froze when he saw her.

"Hi Troy," she greeted with a smile that quickly turned into a frown as he turned around and went back into his room without so much as a hello or goodbye. Confused, she continued down the stairs and sat down on the last step to wait for Chad.

Somewhere nearby, Gabriella could hear Chad's parents talking and she had tried not to eaves drop, but when she heard her name mentioned she gave up the fight.

"Gabriella seems like a nice girl," Zoey said. "And it's exciting that she's here to see Chad and not Troy, like all the others."

"I've been told she's an honor student," Jack stated. "Hopefully she'll encourage Chad to study and get good grades."

"Let's hope," Zoey sighed. "Though, with the two of us on his case 24/7 this year, maybe he can do as well as Troy does."

"If he wants to play basketball he'll have to keep his grades up," Jack stated. "It would disappoint me to bench him during his senior year for grades. Especially when he has us and even Troy to go to for help on his school work."

Hearing the stairs squeak, Gabriella looked up and saw Chad standing behind her and she could tell that he had heard everything his parents had said.

"Let's get out of here," he said, his face lacking emotion. Gabriella nodded and followed him out to his car-noticing for the first time that he was wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans and a t-shirt that had 'my mom thinks I'm rad' written across the chest.

With Chad walking quickly, Gabriella practically had to run after him then bumped into him when he stopped suddenly.

"Can you just forget what you heard?" He asked after turning to face her. "I-"

"You don't have to explain, Chad, it's forgotten," Gabriella assured him.

After getting in the car, they drove around the city-stopping every now and then. Gabriella enjoyed Chad's company thoroughly and didn't once think about Troy as she laughed at the stories Chad seemed to have about every place in town. Most of the stories were funny on their own, but he would add sad, pathetic, but hilarious, jokes to go along with them.

When his stomach growled shortly after 4, Chad declared that he was taking her to the best pizzeria in Albuquerque. As he drove, he told Gabriella that the pizzeria was the popular place for East High students and his statement was proven true when they entered the packed pizzeria.

Gabriella spotted Troy with some friends almost immediately after she and Chad entered the building and all the confusion involving him rushed back to the front of her mind.

"Pepperoni pizza okay with you?" Chad asked.

"Yeah," Gabriella nodded. While he got in line to order the pizza, she found a table. She watched Troy's table from the corner of her eye and saw Chad walk over and greet everyone except Troy-not that she found that weird, after all, she didn't greet her sister in public.

When Chad returned to their table several minutes later, he was carrying a tray with two paper cups containing ice and a pitcher of rootbeer.

After their pizza was delivered, most of their meal was quiet save for a few guys stopping to say hi to Chad and a few people greeting Gabriella as well.

Halfway done with her fourth piece of pizza, Gabriella saw Troy stand up and talk to a girl at a nearby table. The girl smiled-obviously happy about whatever Troy had said-then collected her things and left with him.

"Chad, is there something wrong with me?" Gabriella asked, once they were alone in his car.

"No, I think you're perfect," he replied. "Why?"

"I'm trying to figure out why he didn't call me."

"Who?"

"Your brother. Troy."

"Oh."

"It's just that, I thought we had a connection, you know, and he said he'd call me and he never did."

"I don't know."

"You'd tell me if you said something to you, right?"

"Uh huh."

"I know I can always count on you to be there for me, Chad," she said as he pulled up in front of his house. They climbed out of his car and he watched as she pulled out her bike. "Thanks for showing me around town, Chad."

"Don't mention it," he replied. She gave him a hug then climbed on her bike and rode away, leaving him with a feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to spotzy, ToniMarie63, heyhiyahowyadoin, xpinkdiamondx and bleumanistheonlyman for reviewing the last chapter!!

I tried to update earlier, but I couldn't login. So here you guys go, only two official chapters left :-D

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**Chapter 5**

The last few weeks of September were quiet in the Bolton-Danforth household. Zoey had hoped that the silence was due to lots of studying-especially on Chad's part, but after getting Chad's progress report, she knew it had to be something else.

"Don't worry about it," Jack advised after she had expressed her concern to him. "We simply have a girl problem on our hands."

"What type of girl problem?" She asked.

"Chad and Troy both like Gabriella," Jack told her.

"They do?" She asked surprised. Gabriella had been over numerous times for dinner and every one of those nights Troy had made himself scarce.

Jack nodded.

"Well what are we going to do?" She asked him.

"Nothing, it's best if we let the two of them work this out, Zoe," Jack stated.

Zoey hadn't been pleased with his response, but agreed to go with his ruling to let Chad and Troy deal with the situation on their own.

While Zoey worried about her sons, Gabriella hoped that something would happen and Troy would ask her to go with him to the homecoming dance. But with just one week until the dance, she was loosing hope.

"You should just ask him," Taylor stated. "It's the twenty-first century; we don't have to wait for men to ask us anything."

"No, he has to ask her," Sharpay insisted. "It would be social suicide for her to ask him to homecoming."

"If you haven't noticed, the guys at our school are morons," Taylor said. "If she wants to go with Troy to the dance, she needs to ask him."

"You or I could get away with asking him, Taylor, but she's only been here for a month, if she asked Troy to homecoming and he said no and people heard, she'd be made fun of for the rest of the school year," Sharpay crossed her arms.

"So I'll just go to his house and ask him," Gabriella said. "I have to go over there to pick up a book I left over there anyway."

"You sure hang out with Chad a lot," Taylor said, glancing at Sharpay.

"Yeah, so?" Gabriella asked as they walked to class. "He's my friend. He's the first person I met when I moved here."

"Are you sure Troy isn't interpreting your hanging out with Chad as you and Chad dating?" Taylor asked her.

"Me and Chad dating?" Gabriella asked. "We aren't dating. Chad is just my friend, besides Troy is Chad's brother, if anybody would know Chad and I aren't dating, it would be him. They tell each other _everything_."

"I don't know," Sharpay said, a worried look crossing her face. "They haven't exactly been the closest friends since, well, you came to East High."

"Sharpay!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Well it's true," Sharpay replied. "Gabriella is my friend and I want her to know the truth, I'm not going to lie to her."

"Look guys, I'm gonna go to class, I'll see you later," Gabriella said.

"Good job," Taylor glared at Sharpay before she followed Gabriella into the classroom. She took her seat next to Gabriella and said, "Sharpay doesn't know what she's talking about, Gabriella."

After lunch, Gabriella got a note from the office saying that both Chad and her sister had checked out of school complaining of sick stomachs.

"Great," she muttered. She handed the note to Taylor, who looked at her confused. From the corner of her eye, she saw Taylor scribble something on the piece of paper then hand it back to her.

_You should ask Troy for a ride home. Then you can ask him to homecoming!_

Gabriella looked at her friend and shook her head no. But after class got out, Gabriella watched in horror as Taylor bounded over to Troy and started talking to him. She watched as he looked back at her then nodded.

"What did you do?" She demanded as she and Taylor walked to the locker room.

"I just told him that Chad went home sick and you needed a ride," Taylor stated. "He said he'd give you a ride, you just have to meet him by his locker."

"I hate you," Gabriella muttered.

The ride home from school was silent from the moment Gabriella arrived at Troy's locker. He led her to his truck and turned on the radio so it was too loud for them to talk. Then he dropped her off at home then without even saying goodbye, he sped off.

It wasn't until an hour later that Gabriella remembered she needed the book she'd left at Chad's house. Since her mom was home, Gabriella borrowed her car and drove over to his house.

"Hi Gabriella," Zoey greeted, opening the front door. "Chad's asleep."

"I actually came here to talk to Troy," Gabriella said. "And pick up a book I left here the other night."

"Oh," Zoey's mouthed formed into an o. "Troy should be in his room, I'll go get him, but you can get your book-it's on the kitchen counter."

Gabriella grabbed her book from the counter and was walking out of the kitchen when Troy and Zoey came down the stairs.

"I'll be in the kitchen," Zoey informed them. She slipped into the kitchen, but stayed near the door so she could hear them.

"Why are you here, Gabriella?" Troy asked, speaking to her for the first time in weeks. He had been surprised when Zoey had informed him that Gabriella was here to see him and when he tried to tell his stepmom to tell Gabriella he wasn't there, she told him she would do no such thing and that he had to go downstairs and talk to her.

"Why didn't you call me?" Gabriella asked him, trying to keep her voice levels equal. "I thought you liked me Troy."

"Well obviously you thought wrong," Troy said. Even he winced at his words, he hadn't meant to be so harsh.

"Then why did you ask for my phone number?" She asked, her voice on the edge of cracking.

"Just wanted to make you feel welcome, I guess," he replied. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"No," Gabriella said, she turned and fled the house.

In the kitchen, Zoey's brows furrowed in confusion-why did Troy tell Gabriella he didn't like her, when his dad thought he did? Hearing footsteps coming towards her, she sat down at the table and picked up the newspaper and pretended to read as Troy came in to get something to drink.

"I know you were listening," Troy said, off handedly. "I saw your reflection in the mirror."

"Why did you tell her you don't like her?" Zoey asked him. Troy shrugged. "Troy, talk to me."

"Ask Chad," he replied. He pulled his keys out of his pocket then left the house.

Curious, Zoey went up to Chad's room, but sighed when she found her son asleep. Her questioning would have to wait until later.

When he heard the door close, Chad opened his eyes and stared at the wall. He had come out of his room to get something to drink, but had stopped when he heard Gabriella talking to Troy. He couldn't see her, but he could tell from her voice that she was hurting.

Just thinking of the sound of her voice made his stomach hurt-not from the flu, but from guilt.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to spotzy, bleumanistheonlyman, tashLOVE and naughtycate for reviewing the last chapter :-D

Remember 5 reviews or 5 days, whatever comes first... and I've written Chapter 7 and 2 of the 3 alternate endings. The first alternate ending is the one I debated whether or not to make the official ending... the other two alternate endings are just for fun

Anyway, hope you like this chapter and I really hope it leaves you questioning who she's going to be with...

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**Chapter 6**

The house was quiet when Chad walked down the stairs later that night.

"How are you feeling, Chad?" His mom asked when he came into the kitchen.

Chad shrugged.

"You want some chicken noodle soup?" She asked.

Chad nodded then watched as his mom went about heating up a pan of condensed chicken noodle soup. Once it was hot, she set it in front of him then went about getting dinner ready for her and Jack.

Chad was almost finished with his soup when Jack came into the kitchen.

"Where's Troy?" Jack asked.

"I gave him permission to eat at Zeke's," Zoey replied. "I thought it would give the three of us a chance to talk."

"Talk about what?" Chad asked, quickly glancing from his mom to his stepdad.

"Your grades and why Troy broke Gabriella's heart this afternoon," Zoey said. "And before you tell me you don't know why he broke her heart, I'll inform you that when I asked Troy, he told me to ask you."

"It's nothing, mom," Chad replied, looking at Jack for help.

"Don't tell me it's nothing, young man," Zoey stated. "You and Troy haven't been the same since Gabriella came into our lives."

"It's not Gabriella's fault, mom," Chad argued.

"Then would you mind telling me what caused this change?" She asked.

"You guys did," Chad said, standing up and pushing his chair back. "Ever since you guys started dating it's been Chad get better grades like Troy and Chad why can't you keep your room clean like Troy." He shook his head. "It's just not fair! Troy is better than me at everything-at basketball, at baseball, everything!

"Every girl at school likes Troy and I just wanted one girl that liked me more than she liked Troy. But I know I messed up, okay? And I feel guilty enough as it is, I don't need you bugging me about it, mom."

Zoey and Jack stood in silence after Chad fled from the kitchen. Neither knew what to say or do.

Instead of going to his room, Chad went to Troy's room and sat on his bed until Troy got home.

When Troy came into his room and saw Chad sitting on his bed, he shook his head and turned to go.

"Troy, wait," Chad said, standing up. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Just save it, Chad," Troy shook his head. "Just take Gabriella and leave me alone. This whole charade of yours is going to have everyone thinking I'm a jerk and you'll finally get your wish-you won't be second best anymore."

"You really liked her, didn't you?" Chad asked, studying his brother's face as more guilt piled up in the pit of his stomach. "I'm sorry, Troy, I didn't know."

"There's nothing that can be done now," Troy replied.

Walking to his room, Chad sat down on his bed and studied the floor. He had to do something. Glancing at the clock he saw that it was only nine o'clock, so he changed into a pair of jeans and left the house.

He sped over to Gabriella's house-only to find out she was staying the night with Taylor. After getting directions to Taylor's house, he drove over and knocked on the front door.

"Chad, what are you doing here?" Taylor asked when she answered the door.

"I need to talk to Gabriella," he said.

"I don't think now is the best time," Taylor replied.

"Please, Taylor," he begged.

"Fine, I'll go get her," Taylor replied. She disappeared into the house and found Gabriella. "Chad is here and wants to talk to you."

"Okay," Gabriella nodded. She grabbed her sweatshirt and pulled it over her head before she went outside. "Hey Chad."

"I need to tell you something," Chad told her. "And you'll probably hate me."

"Chad, I can't hate you," Gabriella shook her head.

"Troy ignores you because I told him to," he said.

"What?" Gabriella stared at him confused. "That doesn't make any sense, Chad. Why would you do that? Troy doesn't even like me."

"He likes you, a lot," Chad replied. "I did it because, well-" he took a breath. "-I'm second best to Troy in _everything_. He's a better basketball player than me, a better baseball player, he's better in school and our parents are always like 'Chad why can't you be more like Troy?,' not to mention all the girls at school are in love with him."

"I don't understand," Gabriella said.

"I met you first, Gabriella," Chad said. "I liked you first and when I found out Troy liked you… well I told him to back off…"

"Oh."

"I didn't know you liked him that much, Gabi, you have to know that," Chad said, his voice just above a whisper. "I just thought you thought that he was hot like all the others girls. If I had known you really liked him, and that he really liked you, I would have just backed off."

"I think you should go, Chad," Gabriella said after a few seconds.

"Please don't blame him, Gabriella, this was all me," Chad told her. "And I'll understand if you never want to speak to me again." He gave her one last look before he walked away and got into his car.

Gabriella went back into Taylor's house and pressed her forehead to the door after she'd closed it. She couldn't believe what Chad had just told her. She had thought she could trust him, but now she didn't know what to think.

"What did Chad want?" Taylor asked when Gabriella came back into her room. When Gabriella didn't reply, she looked up and saw that her friend was once again close to tears. "Gabriella, what happened?"

"Troy likes me," Gabriella said with tears in her eyes. "And so does Chad." She told Taylor what Chad had confessed.

"Wow," Taylor said, running a hand through her hair. "Suddenly, everything makes sense."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked.

"Troy's never noticed a new student before, Gabriella," Taylor said. "Much less asked them for their phone number and then not to call you was strange, because if the rumors I've heard are correct, Troy has gotten in trouble numerous times from his dad for having high phone bills."

"I just don't understand why Chad would do this to me," Gabriella said.

"He told you, all the girls at school love Troy," Taylor replied.

"Yeah, but that has to be an exaggeration," Gabriella said. "I mean all the girls liking his best friend and not him, that sounds highly unlikely."

"It's not an exaggeration," Taylor stated. "Girls don't like Chad."

"Why not?" Gabriella asked. "I realize my interaction with Troy has been limited, but I've spent a lot of time with Chad and he is a fun, sweet guy to hang out with and he's not bad on the eyes either."

"Sure, Chad is easy on the eyes, but that's all the girls at East High see," Taylor replied. "He's always focused on sports and when he's in class he just sits in the back of the room and doesn't do anything."

That night as Gabriella listened to Taylor sleep, she thought about what her friend had told her. While she was still hurt by what Chad had done to her, she understood-at least a little-why he had done it.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks to naughtycate, Holy Cross Baby, spotzy, tashLOVE and liv3.in.lov3 for reviewing the the last chapter.

This chapter is nearly 1,000 words longer than all of the other chapters have been and I know going into it that half of you will love this ending and the other half will hate it. For those that hate it, don't worry... tomorrow (assuming I get 5 reviews today) I will be posting the alternate ending where she ends up with the other guy. So either way, I'd love to hear from all of you... if you love who she ends up with, tell me; if you hate who she ends up with, tell me.

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**Chapter 7**

On the Tuesday of homecoming week, Gabriella surprised Chad by asking him to go to the dance with her. He had been extremely surprised by her request and when he had asked her why she wanted to go with him, she told him that they were still friends and that she forgave him for what he had done.

Chad was still in disbelief Friday morning as he got dressed for school. In his wildest fantasy he hadn't imagined that Gabriella would forgive him so quickly then actually want to still be friends with him.

After getting dressed, Chad went downstairs and paused as he neared the kitchen when he heard Jack and Troy talking.

"So the big dance is tonight," Jack commented. "You have a date?"

"I'm not going," Troy shook his head.

"Why not?" Jack asked him.

"Just don't feel like going," Troy shrugged.

"You wanted to take Gabriella and she's going with Chad," Jack said, reading between the lines.

"Pretty much," Troy replied.

Chad backed away from the door and went back up to his room. He had to figure out a way to make things up to Troy.

Hearing a knock on his bedroom door, Chad stood up and took a deep breath before giving the person permission to come in.

"Oh good you're up," his mom said. "Jack made scrambled eggs for breakfast."

"I'll be right down," Chad assured his mom.

After a quiet breakfast, Chad left for school and spent the whole day trying to figure out how he was going to make it up to Troy. It wasn't until he saw his friend Zeke standing in the office complaining of a sore throat that Chad knew what he was going to do.

So after school got out, he waited for Gabriella at her locker and when she showed up he told her he wasn't going to go home with her because he wanted to take a nap. When she asked if he was okay, he said he was fine, but that his throat was a little sore.

Arriving home, he continued his charade by talking to his stepdad and Troy before he went up to his room. He kicked off his shoes and grabbed his Gameboy DS then climbed into his bed.

His plan was foiled when his mom came into his room with a thermometer and demanded to check his temperature.

"Chad, what's going on?" She asked him. "You don't have a temperature."

"I want Troy to take Gabriella to the dance," he told his mom. "But he won't do it unless I can't go." He gave his mom the pouty face he'd perfected over his childhood. "Please don't rat me out."

"Alright," his mom nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Armed with a mission, Zoey left Chad's room and knocked on Troy's door. "Come downstairs, please," she said before she went downstairs.

Troy followed and hopped onto the counter. "What's up?" He asked.

"Chad is sick," his dad stated, having been filled in on Chad's plan. "He won't be going to Homecoming tonight."

"It's a shame really," Zoey said, shaking her head as she poured herself a mug of coffee. "Gabriella bought a really pretty dress and she'll never get to wear it." She stopped and looked at Troy. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Troy asked, looking from his stepmom to his dad.

"You could take her," Zoey suggested. "Chad feels really bad that he's ruining this night for her."

"Chad would rather ruin the night for her then let her go with me," Troy muttered.

"I don't believe that," Zoey stated. "Why don't you go upstairs and ask him?"

"Go," Jack said when Troy didn't move.

"Fine," Troy grumbled. He went upstairs and knocked on Chad's door.

"Come in," Chad called in weak voice.

"Hey, dad and Zoey told me you're sick," Troy said, coming into the room.

Chad just nodded.

"They're also making me ask you if it's okay if I take Gabriella to the dance," Troy said. "For you, of course."

"Really? You'd do that for me?" Chad asked.

"Yeah," Troy nodded.

"That would be great, Troy," Chad stated. "I told Gabriella I'd pick her up at 6 and we were going to have dinner at the Tres Amigos before we went."

"Alright, anything else?" Troy asked.

"Her corsage is in the fridge," Chad replied.

Two hours later, Troy stood in front of the bathroom mirror and tugged on his suit jacket.

"You look very handsome, Troy," Zoey said from behind him. "Gabriella will be a very lucky girl tonight."

"You and dad aren't going to do anything to embarrass me tonight, are you?" Troy asked as she helped him with his tie.

"I'll keep your dad off the dance floor," Zoey laughed. "Alright, I think you're ready to go."

"Thanks," Troy said. He glanced at himself one last time before he left the bathroom.

"See ya at the dance," his dad called before Troy walked out the front door with Gabriella's corsage in hand.

He drove over to Gabriella's house and took a deep breath before he climbed out of the car. He didn't know if she knew that Chad wasn't coming and he was nervous about how she'd react.

Knocking on the door, he waited until who he assumed was Gabriella's dad answered the door.

"Are you Troy?" The older man asked. Troy just nodded. "Come in, Chad told us you were coming."

Troy entered the house and couldn't believe the changes that had been made to what had been his second childhood home.

"Gabriella doesn't know that you're taking her," her dad told him. "But Chad called to tell me that he was sick and that you're a respectable boy. Now I like Chad and he's a good boy, so I trust him when he says you are too, but don't try anything funny with my baby girl."

"Dad, stop torturing Ch- Troy?" Gabriella stopped her decent from the stairs when she saw Troy. "What are you doing here? Where's Chad?"

"Chad is sick," Troy replied. "So I'm here to take you."

"Why didn't Chad call?" Gabriella asked.

"He called and talked to me," her dad stated. "He didn't want to ruin this night for you, Gabriella. So when Troy offered to take you to the dance, Chad told him that was okay."

"You offered to take me to the dance?" Gabriella asked, looking at Troy.

"Yeah," he nodded.

She smiled and continued her decent of the stairs. She walked over to him and held out her hand then he slipped on the corsage. Her mom snapped a couple pictures of them then she and Troy went out to his car.

"Troy, wait," she said before he could close her door.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Chad told me you really like me," she said. "Do you?"

"Yeah," he blushed.

After a quick meal at Tres Amigos, Troy and Gabriella arrived at the dance and were immediately spotted by Taylor and Sharpay.

"What are you doing here with him?" They demanded.

"Chad's sick," Gabriella replied. "So Troy brought me." She smiled at him.

"What do you mean Chad's sick?" Taylor asked. "We just saw him."

"You were at our house?" Troy asked.

"No, our dates took us to the pizzeria for dinner, Chad was there," Sharpay stated.

"You've got to be mistaken, Chad is sick, I saw him with my own eyes," Troy said. "He was in bed and miserable."

"Well he must have made a speedy recovery because he was chowing down on a pepperoni pizza," Taylor stated.

"There's your mom and dad," Gabriella said, pointing across the gym. "Maybe they know something."

"Is Chad really sick?" Troy asked his dad and stepmom as soon as he, Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor got to them. "And don't lie, Taylor and Sharpay saw him at the pizzeria."

Zoey looked at Jack before she shook her head. "He wanted you to take Gabriella tonight, Troy," she informed him. "He felt bad for meddling and wanted to make it up to you."

"But why?" Troy asked. "He told me to stay away from her."

"Because we really like each other," Gabriella said. "He came to talk to me last week and said he liked me, but he didn't like me as much as he finally realized you like me and I liked you."

Taylor wrapped her arm through Sharpay's as they watched their friend walk away with Troy.

"That's so sweet," Sharpay said as tears pooled into her eyes.

"I wish our dates were like that," Taylor sighed. She moved her eyes to the food table where her and Sharpay's dates had been the whole night. "Why did we come with them, Shar?"

A throat behind them cleared and they turned to see Chad's mom. "Might I make a suggestion?" She asked. They nodded. "I know a really sweet guy, who knows how to dance, that is sitting at home by himself."

Sharpay and Taylor looked at each other and smiled.

"But we don't have a way to get there," Sharpay said.

"Jack, keys," Zoey ordered.

Confused, he tossed her the keys and watched in horror as she handed the keys to his car to two students.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"They're going to get Chad," Zoey smiled.

Meanwhile, Chad sat on the couch watching TV. During a commercial break, he got up to get a drink but was stopped when he heard the doorbell ring.

"Troy isn't here," he told Taylor and Sharpay when he saw them on the other side of the door.

"We know," Taylor stated. "We're here for _you_."

"What?" Chad asked, confused.

"Go get dressed," Sharpay ordered. "We'll wait here."

"But I -" He started.

"Troy and Gabriella already know you aren't really sick," Taylor informed him.

"How?" He asked.

"We'll tell you when we're on our way to the dance," Sharpay told him.

Chad went up to his room and changed into his suit. When he came back downstairs, Taylor and Sharpay where in the living room looking at photo albums.

"You were so cute," Sharpay cooed.

Chad grabbed his baby book from them and put it on the shelf. "We can go," he stated.

"You were such a cute baby," Taylor said, pinching his cheeks. "And here, Coach Bolton would probably be happier knowing you were driving his car and not me or Sharpay."

When they got to the dance, Chad gave Jack back his keys before Taylor and Sharpay drug him out to the dance floor for a fast song.

When a slow song came on, he felt a tap on his shoulder and found Gabriella and Troy standing behind him.

"Wanna dance?" Gabriella asked him as Troy started dancing with Sharpay and Taylor.

Chad nodded and took Gabriella's hands.

"Thanks, Chad," Gabriella said, looking up at him. "What you did tonight was the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me."

"Well you can be assured that if he doesn't call you, I'll kick his ass," Chad said loud enough for Troy to hear.

"Alright everyone, it's time to announce your homecoming king and queen," the vice principal said a half hour before the dance was to end. "Your king is- Chad Danforth."

"What?" Chad said in disbelief. "How? What? Why?"

"Word traveled fast that I'm not single," Troy said, clapping his brother on the back. "Go get 'em."

Chad walked up to the stage dumbfounded and accepted the crown as his queen was named. He never believed in his wildest dreams that he would be the homecoming king. The night got even weirder when he was leaving with Troy, Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay and several girls walked over and shoved their phone numbers into his pocket.

"So much for being second best," he said as he walked out to Troy's car with one arm looped through Taylor's and his other looped through Sharpay's.

"More like second in command!" He and Troy said at the same time before they both cracked up. The three girls watched in amusement as the two brothers hugged for the first time in a long time.


	8. Alternative Ending 1

I know I said I was going to wait for 5 reviews or 5 days, but I remember 30 minutes ago that I'm leaving on Wednesday and I really want to finish posting this story before I leave. So because of that I'm posting this one day, the second alternative ending on Monday and the third before I leave on Wednesday.

So anyway, here's the ending that the other half of you guys will like. The beginning of this one and chapter 7 are similar, but things change towards the middle.

Hope you guys like it :-D Lemme know what you think!

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**Alternative Ending #1**

On the Tuesday of homecoming week, Gabriella surprised Chad by asking him to go to the dance with her. He had been extremely surprised by her request and when he had asked her why she wanted to go with him, she told him that they were still friends and that she forgave him for what he had done.

Chad was still in disbelief Friday morning as he got dressed for school. In his wildest fantasy he hadn't imagined that Gabriella would forgive him so quickly then actually want to still be friends with him.

After getting dressed, Chad went downstairs and paused as he neared the kitchen when he heard Jack and Troy talking.

"So the big dance is tonight," Jack commented. "You have a date?"

"I'm not going," Troy shook his head.

"Why not?" Jack asked him.

"Just don't feel like going," Troy shrugged.

"You wanted to take Gabriella and she's going with Chad," Jack said, reading between the lines.

"Pretty much," Troy replied.

Chad backed away from the door and went back up to his room. He had to figure out a way to make things up to Troy.

Hearing a knock on his bedroom door, Chad stood up and took a deep breath before giving the person permission to come in.

"Oh good you're up," his mom said. "Jack made scrambled eggs for breakfast."

"I'll be right down," Chad assured his mom.

After a quiet breakfast, Chad left for school and spent the whole day trying to figure out how he was going to make it up to Troy. It wasn't until he saw his friend Zeke standing in the office complaining of a sore throat that Chad knew what he was going to do.

So after school got out, he waited for Gabriella at her locker and when she showed up he told her he wasn't going to go home with her because he wanted to take a nap. When she asked if he was okay, he said he was fine, but that his throat was a little sore.

Arriving home, he continued his charade by talking to his stepdad and Troy before he went up to his room. He kicked off his shoes and grabbed his Gameboy DS then climbed into his bed.

His plan was foiled when his mom came into his room with a thermometer and demanded to check his temperature.

"Chad, what's going on?" She asked him. "You don't have a temperature."

"I want Troy to take Gabriella to the dance," he told his mom. "But he won't do it unless I can't go." He gave his mom the pouty face he'd perfected over his childhood. "Please don't rat me out."

"Alright," his mom nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Armed with a mission, Zoey left Chad's room and knocked on Troy's door. "Come downstairs, please," she said before she went downstairs.

Troy followed and hopped onto the counter. "What's up?" He asked.

"Chad is sick," his dad stated, having been filled in on Chad's plan. "He won't be going to Homecoming tonight."

"It's a shame really," Zoey said, shaking her head as she poured herself a mug of coffee. "Gabriella bought a really pretty dress and she'll never get to wear it." She stopped and looked at Troy. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Troy asked, looking from his stepmom to his dad.

"You could take her," Zoey suggested. "Chad feels really bad that he's ruining this night for her."

"Chad would rather ruin the night for her then let her go with me," Troy muttered.

"I don't believe that," Zoey stated. "Why don't you go upstairs and ask him?"

"Go," Jack said when Troy didn't move.

"Fine," Troy grumbled. He went upstairs and knocked on Chad's door.

"Come in," Chad called in weak voice.

"Hey, dad and Zoey told me you're sick," Troy said, coming into the room.

Chad just nodded.

"They're also making me ask you if it's okay if I take Gabriella to the dance," Troy said. "For you, of course."

"Really? You'd do that for me?" Chad asked.

"Yeah," Troy nodded.

"That would be great, Troy," Chad stated. "I told Gabriella I'd pick her up at 6 and we were going to have dinner at the Tres Amigos before we went."

"Alright, anything else?" Troy asked.

"Her corsage is in the fridge," Chad replied.

Two hours later, Troy stood in front of the bathroom mirror and tugged on his suit jacket.

"You look very handsome, Troy," Zoey said from behind him. "Gabriella will be a very lucky girl tonight."

"You and dad aren't going to do anything to embarrass me tonight, are you?" Troy asked as she helped him with his tie.

"I'll keep your dad off the dance floor," Zoey laughed. "Alright, I think you're ready to go."

"Thanks," Troy said. He glanced at himself one last time before he left the bathroom.

"See ya at the dance," his dad called before Troy walked out the front door with Gabriella's corsage in hand.

He drove over to Gabriella's house and took a deep breath before he climbed out of the car. He didn't know if she knew that Chad wasn't coming and he was nervous about how she'd react.

Knocking on the door, he waited until who he assumed was Gabriella's dad answered the door.

"Are you Troy?" The older man asked. Troy just nodded. "Come in, Chad told us you were coming."

Troy entered the house and couldn't believe the changes that had been made to what had been his second childhood home.

"Gabriella doesn't know that you're taking her," her dad told him. "But Chad called to tell me that he was sick and that you're a respectable boy. Now I like Chad and he's a good boy, so I trust him when he says you are too, but don't try anything funny with my baby girl."

"Dad, stop torturing Ch- Troy?" Gabriella stopped her decent from the stairs when she saw Troy. "What are you doing here? Where's Chad?"

"Chad is sick," Troy replied. "So I'm here to take you."

"Why didn't Chad call?" Gabriella asked.

"He called and talked to me," her dad stated. "He didn't want to ruin this night for you, Gabriella. So when Troy offered to take you to the dance, Chad told him that was okay."

"You offered to take me to the dance?" Gabriella asked, looking at Troy.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Can I talk to you outside, Troy?" Gabriella said, motioning towards the front door.

"Uh, sure," he replied.

"What makes you think I would want to go to the dance with you!?" Gabriella exclaimed once they were outside. "You ignored me and told me you didn't like me!"

"I lied, I do like you," Troy replied. "I thought you liked me, too."

"I thought I did," Gabriella shook her head. "And while what Chad did wasn't right, it allowed me to see you for who you really are-a player."

"I'm not a player," Troy retorted.

"Yes, Troy, yes you are," Gabriella shook her head. "I don't know why the girls at East High are in love with you, Troy Bolton, especially since you go out on a date with a girl one night and take her friend out the next night."

"You know, I didn't even want to take you to the stupid dance," Troy snapped. "My stepmom talked me into taking you because she felt bad that you were going to miss your senior homecoming dance because Chad's sick. But you know what-you can miss you stupid dance because I'm not taking you."

Gabriella watched him get in his car and speed away. What she had said to Troy was the truth, she didn't like him anymore. He wasn't who she thought he was.

Chad-on the other hand-was exactly who she thought he was. Hurrying inside, she grabbed her purse and her mom's keys then drove over to Chad's house. When she got there, he was walking out to his car.

"Gabriella, what are you doing here?" Chad asked. "Where's Troy?"

Instead of replying, she pulled his face towards hers and kissed him.

"What? What was that for?" He asked her.

"I like you Chad Danforth," she answered. "And I'm not going to the homecoming dance with anybody except you."

"You like me?" He asked in disbelief.

"As crazy as it seems, yes, I like you, Chad," she replied. "Now go change, we have a dance to go to."

When they got to the dance, Gabriella drug Chad out to the dance floor and they danced.

During a fast song, Chad left Gabriella on the dance floor with Taylor and Sharpay while he went to get something to drink. Walking over to the punch bowl, he froze when he saw Troy standing there.

"I thought you were sick," Troy commented.

"Gabriella made me come," Chad shrugged. "Look Troy, I didn't mean to mess things up, I-"

"Just stop, Chad, it's over," Troy shook his head. "Gabriella picked you, it's done."

"I know, but I just want us to be friends again," Chad stated.

"We'll always be friends," Troy replied. "One day we'll look back at this and laugh. After all, we're brothers, we're kinda stuck with each other for life."

Chad laughed and the two boys hugged.

"Okay, come on," Chad said grabbing Troy's arm. "Let's go dance with the girls."

In the end, it was no surprise that Troy was crowned homecoming king. But that was okay with Chad, because while Troy got a crown, Chad got a kiss from Gabriella, his girlfriend.


	9. Alternative Ending 2

Forgot to do this last time so thank you to naughtycate, spotzy, tashLOVE and sassygrl96 for reviewing the last chapter and to sassygrl96 and spotzy for reviewing the first alternate ending. You guys are awesome!!

So as I've said before the last two alternate endings were written just because I could (haha) and I don't think this one is nearly as good as the one I'll be posting on Wednesday and after reading this one and looking at the other stories I've written it'll be pretty obvious as to who the next couple will be... but writing is supposed to be fun :-D

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**Alternative Ending #2**

On the Tuesday of homecoming week, Gabriella surprised Chad by asking him to go to the dance with her. He had been extremely surprised by her request and when he had asked her why she wanted to go with him, she told him that they were still friends and that she forgave him for what he had done.

He wasn't surprised, however, upon learning Thursday afternoon that Troy was taking Sharpay to the dance. It was typical Troy, going after a former flame's (or in this case, crush) best friend.

His reaction to Troy taking Sharpay to the dance changed when Chad came down stairs the morning of the dance and heard Troy and his dad talking in the kitchen.

"So, I heard you're taking Sharpay Evans to the dance," Jack said.

"Yeah," Troy replied, no emotion in his voice.

"She's a pretty girl," Jack stated. "You excited?"

"I guess," Troy shrugged.

"What's up, Troy?" Jack asked, sensing something was off with his son. "You don't seem happy to be going to the dance at all."

"I want to go," Troy replied. "Just not with Sharpay…"

"Ah, let me guess, you wanted to go with Gabriella, but she asked Chad to go with her," Jack said, reading between the lines.

Chad didn't hear the rest of the conversation as he ran upstairs to finish getting ready for school. He grabbed his backpack then left the house before his mom found out he skipped breakfast.

He got to school early and spent the whole day trying to figure out how he could get Troy and Gabriella to go to the dance together. Just as he decided he'd pretend to be skip, he looked out the window and saw Troy drive away.

Knowing he'd run out of time, Chad got dressed for the dance then went to get Gabriella. Her mom snapped several pictures of them together then they made a hasty exit.

They dined at their favorite Mexican restaurant and some how avoided spilling anything down their fronts.

It wasn't until they had arrived at the dance and Chad saw Sharpay and Troy dancing that a plan popped into his mind. He led Gabriella onto the dance floor and they danced near Sharpay and Troy.

After a few songs, Chad turned and asked Sharpay if she wanted to dance, then instead of waiting for her reply, he grabbed her hand pushed Gabriella towards Troy.

"What are you doi-" Sharpay stopped when he turned her so she could see Gabriella dancing with Troy, both of them wearing smiles on their faces. "Oh."

"Exactly," Chad stated. "I know I just robbed you of your homecoming date, so I understand if you want to ditch me or something."

"Chad, I'm not that evil," Sharpay replied. "Besides, I saw the way you were dancing with Gabriella and I must say, I got the better deal in this date swap, Troy can't dance."

Chad laughed and nodded his head. "His grandma wants to pay for him to take dance lessons," he told her with a grin on his face. "He was tripping over his own feet at the wedding."

Sharpay giggled and wrapped her arms around Chad's neck as a slow song came on.

A few dances later, they followed Troy and Gabriella off the dance floor to get something to drink.

"Troy, if you liked me, why did you ask Sharpay to the dance and not me?" Gabriella asked suddenly.

Troy glanced at Sharpay, who glanced at Chad and Chad inhaled deeply as he tried to figure out what to say. "Troy, didn't ask her," he said, quickly. "Sharpay asked him."

"You did?" Gabriella asked, turning to look at her friend. "But you said that I shouldn't ask Troy to the dance because it's the boy's job to ask the girl."

"Oh right," Sharpay said, looking at Chad.

"I told her to," Chad said, finally. "We wanted you and Troy to go to the dance together so we planned this, right, Sharpay?"

Sharpay nodded. It wasn't a complete lie, she had informed Troy yesterday that they were both dateless for the dance…

"Oh," Gabriella's face softened. "You two are the best." She gave them both hugs then grabbed Sharpay's hand and led her away.

"We cool?" Chad asked, turning to his best friend.

"After that, ya," Troy laughed and they did the hand shake they had come up with when they were in fifth grade.

In the end, it was no surprise that Troy was crowned homecoming king and he got the girl, but oddly enough, that was okay with Chad. Troy was his brother and his best guy friend and Gabriella was quickly becoming his best girl friend and if what made them both happy was having each other, Chad was okay with that.

Not to mention he'd impressed Sharpay with his killer dance moves. He wasn't sure if anything would come out of his homecoming date with Sharpay, but he was going it, whatever _it_ was.


	10. Alternative Ending 3

Okay, so I changed my mind... I decided that I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to post this, so here's the last alternate ending. This one is my favorite mostly because I love Chad and Taylor together... especially after this morning... I buy and read the little High School Musical books you can get at walmart for like 5 (though they're a lot cheaper to buy used on ) and while I enjoy the stories from east high, I bought the Stories from East High Super Special and I finished it this morning and I absolutely loved it! Especially the interactions between Chad and Taylor... oh... it was like the best thing ever!! That's the stuff I want in HSM3! haha

Anyway, thanks to xpinkdiamondx, dramagirl237 and spotzy for reviewing the second alternate ending.

I also want to give a very special thank you to the following people for reviewing this little story of mine (even if it was only once or twice): bleumanistheonlyman (x2), dramagirl237, gembryant, heyhiyahowyadoin, Holy Cross Baby, itsasimpleILYx3, liv3.in.lov3 (x3), Mony19 (x2), naughtycate (x3), sassygrl96 (x2), spotzy (x8), tashLOVE (x4), ToniMarie63 and xpinkdiamondx (x3) 

**YOU GUYS ROCK MY SOCKS!!**

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**Alternative Ending #3**

On the Tuesday of homecoming week, Gabriella surprised Chad by asking him to go to the dance with her. He had been extremely surprised by her request and when he had asked her why she wanted to go with him, she told him that they were still friends and that she forgave him for what he had done.

When the homecoming court nominations came out, it was no surprise that Troy's name was on the list, it was a surprise, however, that Chad's name was on the list as well.

It wasn't until the morning of the dance that Chad over heard Jack and Troy talking in the kitchen.

"So, you have a date to the dance?" Jack asked.

"No, I didn't ask anyone," Troy replied. "The only reason I'm going is because of the stupid homecoming court."

"Why not?" Jack asked. "Surely there was a girl you wanted to take."

"There was, she just already had a date," Troy shrugged.

"Gabriella?" Jack asked and Troy nodded.

Hearing foot steps, Chad grabbed his backpack from the closet and left the house. The guilty feeling had returned to the pit of his stomach and he hated it. After he confessed to Gabriella what he had done, he thought that she would ask Troy to the dance but she had screwed it all up by asking him and not Troy.

Since homecoming was to be held in the gym, their PE class had to go into a spare classroom and watch a movie. Sitting a near the back, Chad caught Gabriella and Troy glancing back and forth, but never at the same time and by the end of the day he knew what he was going to do.

After getting dressed for the dance, he headed over to Gabriella's house and her mom took pictures of them. Then he took her out for dinner and eventually to the dance.

Entering the gym, Chad held Gabriella's hand tightly in his as he searched the gym for Troy and finally spotted his brother talking with some guys from the basketball team. He led Gabriella over there and tapped Troy on the shoulder.

"We need to talk," he told Troy and didn't wait for his brother to reply before he pulled Gabriella a few feet away.

"What's up?" Troy asked, glancing at Gabriella before settling his eyes on Chad.

"I'm tired of being in the middle of this and I know, I put myself there," Chad said, grabbing Troy's hand. "You two like each other a lot. You should be each others date." He put Gabriella's hand in Troy's.

"Chad," Gabriella and Taylor said at the same time.

"No," Chad shook his head. "What I did was selfish guys and I ended up hurting the two people I cared about most."

Leaving them, Chad walked across the room and sat down on the bleachers. He nodded to a few freshman girls that were sitting in a group giggling then turned his attention to the dance floor and found Troy and Gabriella dancing together.

"They look good out there," a voice said from beside him.

Chad looked over and saw Taylor. "Yeah they do," he agreed.

"Do you want to dance?" Taylor asked after a couple minutes.

"Won't your date be mad?" Chad asked her.

"I didn't come with a date," Taylor informed him. "Sharpay made me buy this dress because she said I'd need something to wear when a guy asked me, but no surprise, nobody asked me."

"Well, I'm positive I'm not your first choice, but maybe we could be dates for tonight," Chad suggested. "Unless you really don't want a d-"

"You know, after what Gabriella has told me, you may just be my first choice," Taylor stated as she stood up. "Now come on, she tells me you're fun and sweet, so let's go."

Chad allowed her to lead him to the dance floor only to pause when a slow dance came on.

"You can do it," Gabriella said from behind him then pushed him towards Taylor. She watched as her two best friends came together and started swaying with the movie then she turned and looked up at Troy. "They look good together."

Troy smiled and wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist. He looked over her shoulder and saw Chad looking at them. He smiled at his best friend then gave him two thumbs up.

Chad laughed and shook his head. He turned his attention back to Taylor and smiled.

"What?" She asked him.

"You're really pretty, you sure you wanna be seen with me?" He asked her.

Taylor thought before replying, her first thought was to tease him and tell him that his brother was her first choice, but in the aftermath of what had come out since Gabriella had entered their lives made her hold her tongue. "Alsolutely," she finally said.

Chad smiled brightly as the song came to an end.

"Alright, it's time for us to announce who your homecoming queen and king are," Ms. Darbus said into the microphone on the stage. "Your homecoming queen is Sharpay Evans." The crowd cheered as Sharpay made her way to the stage. "And your homecoming king is Troy Bolton."

Chad gave his brother a high five as he made his way to the stage. Then he slipped an arm through Gabriella's arm and the other through Taylor's.

Instead of taking the crown, Troy covered the microphone with his hand and whispered something to Ms. Darbus. She looked surprised at what ever he had said, but nodded and motioned to the microphone.

With the crown tucked under his arm, Troy looked out into the audience and said, "I want to thank you all for voting for me, but this crown doesn't belong to me, not tonight. Your homecoming king is my brother and best friend Chad Danforth."

Chad's jaw dropped in disbelief as Gabriella squealed and Taylor clapped.

"Go," Gabriella told Chad and gave him a push to start walking.

It was all a blur as Chad walked towards the stage, guys from the basketball and baseball teams playfully shoving him as he walked by. Troy met him at the bottom of the stairs and placed the crown on his brother's head.

"Thanks, Chad," he said. "You made this night better than I ever imagined." The two brothers hugged quickly then Troy motioned his head to the left. "Your date is waiting for you."

Chad turned and smiled when he saw Taylor standing at the front of the crowd. He walked over to her and took her hand then led her to the dance floor.

"Is this everything you imagined it would be?" Taylor asked as they danced.

"Nope," he shook his head then smiled. "It's better."

Taylor grinned and leaned her face in towards his and closed her eyes as she felt his lips on hers.

After the dance, Chad kissed Taylor goodnight in the parking lot then went home. He changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a black tank top and laid back on his bed.

Even in his wildest dreams he never imagined that he'd be name homecoming king not to mention have a girl like Taylor McKessie actually like him.

"Ah good you're home," he looked up when he heard Troy's voice. "Gabriella asked me to check since you and Taylor were making out by her car when we left."

"We were not making out," Chad rolled his eyes.

"It sure looked that way," Troy stated. "And that's not a bad thing, I'd say you guys are oh-about a week from going out."

"Whatever," Chad said.

"No, dude, I'm serious," Troy stated. "I mean did you hear her screaming when you were doing the moonwalk? All the girls were talking about it; it seems I'm not a very good dancer."

"Yeah, I did," Chad felt his face heat up. "I've known you couldn't dance forever."

"So you've known all along that I'm not better at everything," Troy stated.

"I guess so," Chad nodded.

"Are we cool?" He asked after a minute or so.

"Yeah," Troy nodded.

They hugged again and pulled away when they heard sniffling. They turned and saw Zoey standing in the doorway with a tissue.

"Come in," they said at the same time.

"My babies," Zoey cried as she crossed the threshold and wrapped an arm around each of the boys.

Chad and Troy looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"No more fighting, I can't take it," she told them. "Got it?"

"Deal," they chorused.


End file.
